Medieval

Bohemia at the start of the fifteenth century. The king and his brother are fighting over the throne, the nobles are calculating for themselves, and there is no order left in the country. Jan Žižka, a mercenary, takes a job abducting a nobleman's betrothed. The job grows and Žižka has to pick a side. The subject is not war but loyalty being for sale. Throughout the film Žižka does not quite know whom he is fighting for; choosing a side is not an act of belief but of exhaustion. The form is muddy and dark: ambushes in forests, sieges, close combat. Petr Jákl is a former judoka and stuntman, and the weight of the fights comes from that. With a budget of five hundred million Czech crowns, it became the most expensive Czech film ever made. It was shot in English with an international cast; Michael Caine appears in one of his last roles before announcing his retirement. Žižka was a real commander, remembered in Czech history as a soldier who never lost a battle, but most of what happens in the film is invented. Ben Foster plays Žižka and Sophie Lowe the abducted woman. Who it is for: viewers who like hard medieval action and muddy battle. Who it is not for: anyone after historical accuracy; the film builds an almost entirely fictional plot around a real figure.